Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My mom found a snake outside on the driveway that she now wants to keep it. Looking online at pictures and behavours it is probobly a garter snake. I have no clue how to take care of a snake and have only ever had a dog so we both have no idea what to do. We wen't to the pet store and picked up a small fish for it that it hasen't touched yet.

Temporarily it is in a 6" diamater jar that is around 8" tall. Dirt and a few leaves are on the bottom, along with a few branches, and a dish of water with the fish in it to one side. A lamp is heating one side, amd leaves spread around (the best "hiding" place for it right now). So is this set up alright for a few days?

So what should we know, and are there any other sites that have information on keeping a garter snake. Also I found that keeping wild snakes is difficult, and require alot of attention, so is it even adviced to keep it?

And, what should be done at night with the light, I think I'm supposed to make it cooler in the jar, but do I cut the light all the way off or just move it back so it isn't touching the side? It isn't very bright so I don't know how much it would do pulled back...

I am concerned that you may cook him by trying to heat such a small jar with a lamp. The situation you described will not give him a temperature gradient should the enclosure get to warm. He should have darkness at night so turn the lamp off. If he is a Garter Snake then room temp at night should be ok.

Are you sure it is a Garter and if so what type? If you can post a pic and give us the geographical area where he was caught, we can narrow down the ID. There are some differences in feeding the different species of Garters and a few are specialists and difficult to keep.

My initial advice is to get a new enclosure ASAP. If it is a baby Garter you can start with a 2 1/2 or 5 gal tank, even a large fish bowl would be ok. The lid must be escape proof and I mean ESCAPE PROOF. Temp should be around 80 degrees but normally most young Garters will do fine at room temp as long as it is not too cool. The bottom of the cage should be easy to clean. News papers, paper towels, shredded ASPEN (no pine or cedar), care fresh are all suitable. Be careful about letting his enclosure get to hot.

That should get you started but we really need a positive ID to continue. There are also many care sheets for Garters on the web and I suggest you review several of them and look for common denominators.
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Randy Hallman

The lamp is 20 watts, so hopefully that isn't making it hot enough for him to fry. I don't have a thermometer right now, so the only way I have to tell the tempature is by reaching my hand in there, where it seems a bit warmer then the room, but not very. The side with the lamp is also warmer then the other side, and he is hanging around the light right now so...

I can't find any pictures of the specific types as a baby, and it dosen't look at all like any of the adult pictures. Although all the baby garter pictures I am finding look exactly like him. I live in North Carolina, and it seems there are two types here, common garter and striped garter. He is a dark tan color with a light tan stripe down his back, and brick red dots next to the stripe. I don't have a digital camera here so I can't get a picture of him just yet.

I am trying to find a better cage for him but not finding anything suitable at the moment, I might end up just going to the pet store and picking something up. I have a few plastic containers that vary in size, but with the lid on them they are air tight so that won't work unless I do something like a cloth and a rubber band, or something similar. I'm moveing in a few days so it would be easier if I could just wait on a full tank.

He was outside when I got home and wasen't moving much (it was around 80 outside, so it was probobly a bit warmer, but he was in the shade so it wasen't hot in there. But I moved him back in and now he is moving around like he was before. Don't konw if that was because of the heat, or if it was just random.

Oh, and I forgot two things...

If I want him to be good with people when he is older are there any things you can do that help, like handle him often, don't handle him, leave him in traveled areas, etc. I know some animals are that way, and if you don't they become skittish when they are older, no ideas about snakes though.

And for food he had a small fish from the store, and two worms from the yard so far, all the types of garters I found have those in their diet and he handled them fine (I didn't get to see him eat them though >

I am still not sure what you have. There is one species of Garter in your area, the Eastern Garter Snake, Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis. I am not aware that they have red spots in the eastern part of their range but some may have a tinge of red pigmentation elsewhere in the range. A closely related species in your area is the Eastern Ribbon Snake. Thamnophis sauritus sauritus. These do not have red spots. Continue to try and provide some pics if you can. Maybe you have a friend with a digital camera. In the meantime do a google search for Eastern Garter Snakes in North Carolina and see what you can narrow down. Emphasize N Carolina in your search. You can also find a list of snakes found in your state on the internet.

Garter Snakes usually do well in captivity but they are generally a bit on the nervous side. They may or may not ever tolerate being handled. They will never want to be handled. The Eastern will probably take small fish and worms but as it grows you will do better by converting its diet to pinky mice. This is another topic and we will tackle it later. If fed on worms you will want to use a calcium supplement on occasion.
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Randy Hallman

From the pictures I could find of a baby eastern ribbon it dosen't seem to look at all like that, those have more of a yellow stripe. and the red isn't very bright or anything, they are really small dots and a bit more of a brownish red. I found a few fuzzy pictures of a Chequered Garter snake which look almost exactly like him, but they are fuzzy so it's hard to tell.

When you say that they never want to be held, what exactly does that mean? I've read that they can bite and let out a skunk like oder, if they are kept active and around people will he do this? or will he just try to run away each time? Hopefully I could get it to where he would just mess around, right now he dosen't seem to hate being held, he just kinda moves around for three or so minutes, then gets all spazzed and I have to put him back before I drop him.

The Eastern Garter snake is a subspecies of the Common Garter Snake. Like other Garters they will bite and musk as defensive measures. Some individuals of this species are more apt to abandon either biting, musking or both after acclimating to captivity but other individuals continue to use these defensive measures throughout their captive existence. Regardless, none of them will actually enjoy being held but some will tolerate it more than others. Some will tolerate it to the point they seem indifferent to it. As long as the snake is feeding consistently and does not act nervous in its cage you can handle it. Start slowly and increase the frequency and duration of the handling. There is a good chance it will get used to it in a short time. Do not hand-feed it as it may come to associate your hand with food and bite for that reason. I have had several Garters like that. Never handle it if your hand has any prey related odor or chemicals etc.

Checkered Garters are not found in or near N Carolina (unless it is your neighbors escaped pet). Pull up a list of snakes native to N Carolina and start a process of elimination. This should be easy to find through google. Most distribution maps are going to be pretty close to accurate. Learning what you have is part of the fun.

Has he eaten yet?
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Randy Hallman